When I was little I was able to have family that really appreciated art. My mom did leather tooling, gingerbread houses (2 story creations that are better than anything you see in store window displays!) crafting, and often took us to local plays and music in the park. She was an art docent at our school, and would take us to see local art exhibits where friends had pieces on display. We would enter our own little pieces in the fair, and always spent half of our day at the fair touring the 3 buildings full of entries. My grandmother had her paintings and drawings in most of the rooms of her house, and encouraged R and I to really give it a try. I would often sit with Nan in the afternoons and watch Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, I found him magical! Here are some clips of him painting mountains and trees.
Well, while I was at the ranch April 5th, I was able to finally try my hand at a Bob Ross style oil painting! One of the missionaries serving there, use to have a painting studio where he gave lessons. I was lucky enough to be invited over for a lesson of my own!
Elder Curfew had the board and everything all ready for me. He would show me how on the right side of the board, and then I got to do the left side myself.
Here I am adding my "happy little tree!"
Leta and I had just got back from horseback riding, and she came along and watched and took these pictures for me. Thank you Leta! And thank you Elder Curfew, this is an opportunity I always wanted, and will never forget!
This last Christmas was a wonderful one. I had planned ahead, so all the shopping was done way ahead of time removing most of my holiday stress. A visit to the temple on the 11th was also a good way to start the holiday.
We were able to pick up the perfect tree at the lot on the corner from us at a good price, bring it home and decorate it and the house all in one evening. I think this is the cat's favorite time of year!
This year, since I was somehow ahead on my holiday to-do list, I decided to try stringing cranberries, something I have wanted to do since I was a kid. (BUCKET LIST!)
Of course I had some furry help with this project.
Each year I try to work on my photography skills and take a picture of J and I for our Christmas cards. I thought it would be neat to take one in front of our tree this year. It was also nice and cozy inside, and last year I drug J out in the cold for our picture. Problem was, the lighting stunk, the angle made the tree look small, and the cats kept getting in the way. I quickly realized it was not going to work so we took one last silly one and gave up the idea.
You can still see Marsh's tail in front of J's arm.
J was a good sport and said he would go with me over to the park and let me mess with my camera. It was actually a pretty nice day, and I got a few good shots.
This September 11th was Mom's 60th birthday. I am only giving her age because what I will post next will make you think she was turning 40. For her birthday she decided she wanted to do a river rafting trip. Our tour guide company was called Wet World and we rafted the White Salmon River just a short drive from where we were camping. We have a fabulous guide, Jeff, who gave all us first-timers wonderful instructions. Because we had such a great guide who educated us and made us feel safe, Mom, Dad, J and I were able to truly enjoy the beauty of experience. The weather was perfect, and the river was just low enough that we were able to do a larger section and go through more rapids. We did class 3 water, with areas of class 4 rapids. The river has cut its way down through the lava rock, and as we floated along we were able to look up at the rock formations and trees. There was an area where the water undercut the rock making a cave we were able to go in. There was a section that we had to get out, send the boat ahead and walk around, and it was neat to climb on the rocks and get a better look at our surroundings. At the very end of the trip there was a class 5 waterfall. Mom and Dad got out at the landing just before the waterfall so they could watch J and I go over it. The company takes pictures for you and some of them came out great. They captured us going over the falls in a neat series, so even though it is a lot of pictures, I thought I would post them.
And there's the birthday girl! Yep, she is just that awesome, fun, and young at heart!
August 8th-11th my sister in law and her friend Lisa stayed at our place while in town for a wedding. One evening the three of us went for a game of mini golf. I had never played before, and it was a lot of fun.
Later we decided we needed to do a midnight doughnut run to the famous Voodoo Doughnuts in downtown Portland. I had not been there before, and now looking back, going to downtown Portland Friday at midnight might not have been the best idea. The streets were packed with people out clubbing dressed in all the craziest extremes. There were officers all over and the three of us kept to ourselves not dawdling, so we were safe enough, but I wouldn't go back at night alone.
We lucked out on free parking and only had to wait in line about 20 minutes.
We got a Dirty Snowball, Voodoo Doll, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and Mango Tango
Monday, while J helped his friend Sergio, work on his car, us wives went to the Portland Art Museum. Samantha and her twins A&A (5 years old), and I, had a good time. I have always wanted to see some of the more famous artist's original works. (Bucket List) Here is what I saw....
Monet's Water Lilies
Pierre Auguste Renoir - Two Girls Reading in a Garden
They had a large exhibit of Mark Rothko's work (very famous, 1903-1970), but his style was really nothing that moved me. Most of his later pieces, there were 45 in all on display, looked something like this...
His earlier work I enjoyed more. They were of figures, the subways, and a few still lifes. I think this was my favorite one by him....
There was a large exhibit by John Frame as well. The lighting on it was incredible, and worth seeing just for that. All his lighting, even in the videos he does, I found to be outstanding. They had all his characters in cases on stands in a dark room with soft spot lights on each. I had never seen any of his work before, and he was actually there and while we watched his movie we listened to him talk. He created a stop motion movie using his hand crafted characters and sets. The figures ranged in size, the largest being about a foot tall, the craftsmanship utterly amazing. Very odd, but very meticulous and intricate. My way of describing his work would be Geppetto-meets-Tim Burton. It is very strange, and I found it a bit pointless, but magnificently executed. Even though I didn't "get" his movie, I thought it was incredibly well done, and all his work was very fun to look at. I just hope A&A didn't get nightmares.
Yes his cloak is full of eyeballs.
Here is the video we watched. There is more on YouTube, and HERE is his website if you are interested. On his page under the "Making Of" tab there is a video called, "Happy Medium" that shows him creating one of his pieces. The part showing him putting together a hand, I had to watch a few times. Mind-blowing.
